Melbourne’s weather is putting on a show, bringing a range of possibilities for this weekend. Get around the footy fever at this year’s AFL Footy Festival and catch Relics: A New World Rises exhibition at the Melbourne Museum to witness Lego on a whole new level.
Or visit Maho Magic to experience some of the best Japanese magicians and cocktails under neon lights.
AFL Footy Festival
It’s arguably one of Melbourne’s biggest weekends and AFL’s Footy Festival is taking over Yarra Park to celebrate. Footy fever will be thriving with live entertainment, food trucks, player visits, giveaways and special shiny appearances from the 2023 AFL Premiership Cup. Various AFL sponsors will be joining in on the festivities—Telstra Footy is pressing fans’ favourite player's name onto their guernsey for free, and Chemist Warehouse is whipping up personalised footy photos.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, Wednesday 27 September until Saturday 30 September
Where: Yarra Park, Marathon Way, East Melbourne
For more information, click here.
Black Star Pastry Celebrates Moon Festival
Black Star Pastry is celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival the best way they know how—they’re morphing their viral strawberry watermelon and black sesame cheesecakes into Insta-worthy mooncakes. Wrapped in a soft sticky rice skin and embossed with Black Star Pastry style, these little bundles of joy are the perfect way to share the Moon Festival love.
THE DETAILS:
When: Now until Sunday 1 October, unless sold out prior
Where: All Black Star Pastry stores
For more information, click here.
Minor Figures + Coffee Supreme Off-World Coffee Experience
Set a reminder—the first 100 people to visit Coffee Supreme’s Abbotsford café on Saturday will taste the future of coffee, without paying a cent. Minor Figures, a 100% plant-based coffee-obsessed brand, and specialty coffee roasters, Coffee Supreme, have teamed up to serve their creative interpretation of what coffee might look like in 100 years. For one week only, you can try their futuristic concoction and be transcended off-world.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, Saturday 30 September until Saturday 7 October
Where: 28-36 Grosvenor Street, Abbotsford
For more information, click here.
Elvis: A Musical Revolution
Authorised by Elvis Presley Enterprises, you can bet that this new bio-musical will outdo the potentially too many Elvis impersonators you’ve seen. Elvis: A Music Revolution has landed in Melbourne this weekend, bringing an all-Australian cast, featuring over 40 hits, filled with choreography, costumes and rock n roll.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, from Saturday 30 September
Where: 188 Collins Street, Melbourne
For more information, click here.
International Games Week
Asia Pacific’s largest digital games celebration is loading right here in Melbourne, starting Saturday. Whether you’re an avid gamer, in the industry, or just intrigued, there are various events scattered throughout the city, like a coding workshop at RMIT and a Mario Kart tournament at Fed Square. Melbourne artists and designers have transformed arcade machines, hidden in shops and cafés at The Capital on Swanston Street, into playable artwork. Some events are free, and others you’ll need to book for quickly.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, Saturday 30 September to Sunday 8 October
Where: Various locations
For more information, click here.
Youth Market
If you’re in need of some wholesomeness, support up-and-coming entrepreneurs at the Queen Vic Market this weekend. Hosted by the Next Generation Entrepreneur Hub, this once-off Youth Market celebrates the innovation of young people under the age of 18, who are selling their own crafts to the public. There’s alcohol ink painting, traditional Ukrainian crafts and homemade earrings on offer.
THE DETAILS:
When: 9am to 2pm, Saturday 30 September
Where: E-Shed of Queen Victoria Market, Queen Street, Melbourne
For more information, click here.
Relics Exhibition At Melbourne Museum
For the little and big Lego enthusiasts, step into a world where tiny bricks and humans collide. Relics: A New World Rises, created by Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler, who won Channel 9’s Lego Masters in 2020, presents little plastic civilisations in old antique objects, including a car, fridge and grandfather clock. While it’s an interactive experience, let’s hope there aren’t too many loose Lego pieces to be stepped on.
THE DETAILS:
When: 9am to 5pm, Friday 1 September to Sunday 28 January
Where: 1 Nicholson Street, Carlton
For more information, click here.
Royal Show
Bring on the Bertie beetle show bags, squeals of adrenaline and farmyard mayhem—the institution that is the Royal Melbourne Show is kicking off this weekend. There’s something for the little and big kids, from dodgem cars to a 40-metre thrill ride, and feeding baby animals to equestrian action. After 175 years of celebrating agriculture, you can bet that the Royal Melbourne Show is bringing back all the live entertainment, attractions and Blue-Ribbon Competitions it’s renowned for.
THE DETAILS:
When: 9:30 am to 9:30 pm, Thursday 21 September until Sunday 1 October
Where: Melbourne Showgrounds, Epsom Road, Ascot Vale
For more information, click here.
The Friends Experience Has Landed In Melbourne
The next best thing to being on set with Joey, Monica, Rachel and the gang is hitting Melbourne. Backed by Warner Bros, The Friends Experience is set to recreating iconic moments and scenes from the iconic 90s TV series, where punters can peek around Rachel and Monica's purple door, settle into Chandler and Joey's recliners or even take a seat at that coffee shop, Central Perk.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, Friday 1 September to Sunday 26 November
Where: The District Docklands. Level 1, 116 Studio Lane
For tickets, click here.
Tulip Festival
Spring has arrived in Melbourne and over a million flowering bulbs have come with it. Wander through a labyrinth of colour, stretched over 5 acres of flower fields, at this year's Tesselaar Tulip Festival. Once you and your pooch have roamed around the spectacle, secure a spot on the lawn for an afternoon of live music and a picnic, or bites from a variety of stalls offering Dutch Kibbeling, potato twisters, Gozleme and more. You’ll travel to Holland with Dutch-inspired activities like Clog dancing workshops, a cheese market performance and windmills scattered throughout the garden.
THE DETAILS:
When: 10am to 5pm, Saturday 16 September until Sunday 15 October
Where: Tesselaar Flower Farm 357 Monbulk Road, Silvan
For more information, click here.
Maho Magic
Direct from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo (with a layover in Sydney of course), comes Maho Magic Bar, a neon-lit debaucherous experience of cocktails, mischief and a dash of mayhem. From the minds of immersive experience trailblazers Broad Encounters, the show features a line-up of Japan's top magicians—just Google the likes of Shirayuri, Kaori Kitazawa or Nakamura and you'll get an idea of what you're getting yourself into. On the bar, expect shochu, sake, plenty of Japanese whisky and cocktails that come with a helluva lot of theatre when served.
THE DETAILS:
When: Various times, from Thursday 14 September
Where: 19 Celestial Avenue, Melbourne, VIC, 3000
For tickets and more information, click here.
Sony Scene Festival 2023
Sony’s huge new festival for photographers, videographers and creators just hit Australian shores. They've dropped a 100-strong lineup of events hosted by a crew of digital imaging ambassadors and industry experts, covering every skill level and genre under the sun. To celebrate, they're giving five lucky people the chance to win a guided photography trip to Paris. With digital imaging talks, workshops and meetups popping up across Melbourne and regional Vic until the end of October, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to hone your expertise or dive into the basics. To suss the lineup or get the full rundown, check out the event page here.
THE DETAILS:
When: Friday 8 September until Tuesday 31 October
Where: Various locations
For more information, click here
Make a day of it and hit up some of Melbourne's best spots for breakfast, lunch and dinner:
Melbourne's best restaurants
Melbourne's best cafes
Melbourne's best bars
Melbourne's best breakfast
Melbourne's best Japanese
50 epic things to do in Melbourne all year 'round
Image credit: Paul Macallan (Unsplash)
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